I bbq and watch football on Sundays, and my friends give me donations for the H'oderves. Am I at risk of a raid?
parking I think. Its important to note that the article title is misleading - he was arrested for zoning violations looking back at different articles - i don't think that is their building in the picture - but it is the group that meets each week. I'm trying to read several articles on the same thing, just to make sure I see all the facts.
Only if you can prove he is running it as a business and profiting from it. Otherwise, it's just an oversized dining room for family and friends so to speak.
Conversely I have resolved to read as little as possible on this because it's a pretty meaningless run of the mill zoning/building code squabble, with the religion hook thrown in to attract attention.
I'm pretty sure there is much more to this story. Zoning violations are generally not arrestable offenses but are subject to fines. I don't know much about the Phoenix zoning code but I doubt they could just raid him for this.
It sounds jacked up but key details are missing. How many people actually shows up for this bible study.
Sounds to me like he's running a church, doesn't meet the necessary codes, and ignored instructions from the courts to stop. He could build a church in a properly zoned area that means construction standards for an assembly area and there'd be no trouble. I don't see the problem with putting him in jail. http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/07/11/phoenix-preacher-jailed-in-zoning-dispute/
actually I've been involved in a similar situation, started a small bible study in a home (3-4 cars), then people invite friends etc and before you know it 20 cars are trying to park on a street in a neighborhood that can't accomodate. It makes it hard on the neighbors and I have had to stop because there wasn't a way to handle the parking without disrupting people's private space. If you are enfringing on other's property you need to just back off and find another solution. I would recommend they find a better location if the neighbors are upset, 'love your neighbor' is the way to approach this.
Didn't see that, they went over the line. Should have followed the laws and ordinances. No religious persecution here.
Dude had a church in his backyard, iirc he had like 60 patrons attending his "bible study" some nights, not what I'd want in my neighborhood. His neighbors are just lucky he was Christian so they could prosecute; if he were Muslim, it would have been a major **** storm if they shut him down.
FINALLY an article that actually give us the facts of this case... Color me shocked that there was more to it than a bunch of jack-booted thugs busting into someone's living room and arresting him for holding a small bible study... Sheesh, this guy sounds like the next David Koresh...
The title is misleading as hell, what else would you expect from Fox News. He was not arrested for having a bible study , but for violating city zoning laws. Apparently the city had warned/fined him on this issue before. This has nothing to do with religion. There are not enough facts regarding this incident. If he was aware of the city law then why did he continue to break the law? Constitutional rights are not absolute, just because you have the right to freedom of speech does not mean you can go cuss out random people on the street. Maybe his large gatherings there pissed off the neighbors. Its the same thing if people down the street were having a bunch of people over every week to watch a Nebraska game and somebody in the neighborhood got upset. Supposedly Phoenix has rules and laws governing how many people you can have over and what code to follow if the number reaches beyond a certain limit. This guy was told that and continued to disregard it in the name of religion.
I actually stopped myself from making a Koresh joke earlier to avoid hurting sensibilities, but it sounds like it would have been okay. I went with the Spanish Inquisition instead.
See...a lot more hell, fire and brimstone (to Christians no less) would have kept that parking situation in check.
I just read the article that JuanValdez posted and that answers a lot of questions. He was just thumbing his nose at the authorities in regard to bringing his house / church to code while also having his property declared a church for tax reasons. I can see how that would eventually piss off the authorities. This guy should've just hired an architect to design his addition and many of those issues would've been addressed. Heck he might've been able to find someone to design it for free. I am volunteering with a Buddhist group that converted a duplex into a temple. Of course he would still have to pay for the construction and I am guessing this guy either doesn't have a lot of money or is cheap.
Another article on this topic: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-01-17/news/michael-salman-wants-to-build-a-church-in-his-backyard-his-neighbors-aren-t-buying-it/
